Funding Opportunities
According to a NSBA’s survey on after-school program among school board presidents, 52 percent say they will have to reduce somewhat or cut entirely programs due to decreases in funding.
In this section, you will find helpful information on funding streams. Listed directly below are some suggestions for school board members to consider when examining the funding issue:
- Provide financial support for a full-time after-school/community schools coordinator (perhaps in conjunction with county/city government, community-based organizations (CBOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs)) to build the partnerships and programming for an engaging, enriching community learning center in each school-community that wants it.
- Take advantage of the Title I Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provision of No Child Left Behind by offering engaging academic help in your own after-school programs.
- Provide a transportation allotment for students participating in after-school programs, as well as those playing sports, in the band, and other extracurricular activities.
- Create incentives or requirements when renovating or constructing school facilities. Design buildings to be community schools/learning centers that are much more welcoming, accessible, and usable as community education centers for students' families and other community members.
- Create a competitive mini-grant fund for energetic teachers and paraprofessionals to develop engaging and enriching after-school classes. These can be clubs and activities that are linked to the school day curriculum.
Resources
- Snapshots of Sustainability: Profiles of Successful Strategies for Fiancing Out-of-School Time Programs
[PDF 3,441,510kb]
This compendium includes 32 profiles of out-of-school time programs that have succeeded in sustaining their work by developing strategies to marshal a broad range of critical fiscal and non-fiscal resources.
- Cost Worksheet for Out-of-School Time [PDF 152,843kb]
This worksheet from the Finance Project is an excellent starting point for identifying the start-up costs for an after-school program.
- Estimating Supply and Demand for Afterschool Programs: A Tool for State and Local Policymakers [PDF 616,950kb]
This tool provides a framework for estimating supply and demand—from basic steps to an in-depth review—by summarizing and highlighting experiences in a number of states.
- Fact Sheets for Afterschool Funding [PDF 195,991kb]
This fact sheet describes a range of federal funding sources that can support afterschool programs - produced by the National Center for Community Education in collaboration with the Afterschool Alliance.
- Financing Facility Improvements for Out-of-School Time and Community School Programs [PDF 450,981kb]
A strategy brief from the Finance Project that discusses creative strategies to increase the number of resources available for facility improvements.
- Financing Transportation Services to Support Out-of-School Time and Community School Initiatives [PDF 551,772kb]
A strategy brief from the Finance Project on funding transportation.
- MAKING SMART INVESTMENTS IN AFTERSCHOOL: POLICY PRIMER FOR STATE & LOCAL LEADERS [PDF 2,181,366kb]
This brief offers ideas for state and local policymakers to develop interagency collaboration, expand access to affordable after-school programs, and advance general program quality. Examples of promising practices from across the country are included to show leaders concrete ways of promoting the sustainability of after-school programs.
- Physical Infrastructure [PDF 85,363kb]
This task brief from the Forum for Youth Investment examines the critical challenges – logistical and financial - facing after-school programs as it relates to transportation and facilities.
- The Costs of Out-of-School-Time Programs: A Review of the Available Evidence [PDF 1,052,031kb]
This report reviews a variety of studies conducted since 1993 in an attempt to gain a broad sense of what it costs to run out-of-school-time programs.
- Thinking Broadly: Financing Strategies for Comprehensive Child and Family Initiatives [PDF 2,298,814kb]
This brief from the Finance Project includes information on better using existing resources, maximizing federal and state revenue, and building public-private partnerships.
- Uncertain Times: Funding Insecurity Puts Afterschool Programs at Risk [PDF 104,296kb]
A recent survey of after-school programs, finds that after-school programs are serving a high need population, serving more children than expected, and struggling to maintain their funding.
- Local Streams
- State Streams
- Federal Streams